Argania spinosa Genome Annotation

The argan tree (Argania spinosa), endemic to Morocco, is vital ecologically and economically for argan oil production. This study aimed to comprehensively annotate its nuclear genome to enhance genomic resources. Methods involved k-mer analysis for genome size, Illumina sequencing, assembly with tools like SPAdes and Zanfona, and annotation of repeats, genes using AUGUSTUS and GeneMark-ES, and non-coding RNAs. Functional annotation employed eggNOG-mapper and BLASTp. Results showed a 698 Mbp genome with 1.71% heterozygosity. The 690 Mbp assembled genome had a scaffold N50 of 25 Mbp, a significant improvement. Repetitive elements comprised 53.04%. 54,793 genes were predicted, with 89.6% BUSCO completeness. Diverse non-coding RNAs were identified, including 3229 snoRNAs and 2900 miRNAs. Functional analysis confirmed the genetic basis for lipid and tocopherol biosynthesis